2007 Journal - The Boran Cattle Breeders` Society of South Africa

Transcription

2007
Inhoud
contents
Message from the President
From the Editor
Recipient selection - preperation evaluation
& transfer
Boran & tomorrow
Kenia - 11-17 Maart 2007
Nasionale Veiling
2006 Jaarvergadering & Dinee
1ste Nampo
Boran dagboek
The decision of a lifetime
Origin & Genetic make-up of the Boran
Embryo flushing in Kenya
Boran SA - A picture paints a thousand words
Proposed logo
Ledelys
2
4
10
22
28
34
38
40
42
44
48
58
62
78
79
Boran Beestelersgenootskapvan SA
Boran Cattle Breeders’Society of SA
Posbus/PO Box 506 • Bloemfontein 9300
Tel: 051 448 9347 • Sel/Cell: 083 383 8226
E-pos/E-mail: [email protected]
http//www.boran.org.za
PRODUKSIE VAN JOERNAAL
Charmainé Alberts
Adverteerders
Advertisers
Adelson
21
Blaauwskop
39
Bloodline
42
Boon Boran Stud
33
Boschveld
31
Boran Afrika
6,7
Boran Genetics
IFC
Bos Optimus
IBC
Byrne Valley
53
Chulu
47
Circle C
3 & OBC
Elandspruit
14,15
Embrio Plus
36,37
Fonteine Borans
43
Heavitree
49
Heeltevrede
51
Jeras
61
Kenya Boran Cattle
35
Keta & Circle C
25
Lissadell
35
Manitou
23
Masai Boran
11
Mogwooni
46
Moll’s Hoop
26,27
Nello
24
Ol Pejeta Conservancy
5
Onderstepoort BIO
20
Sand Sonia
17
SHM Marketing
30
Tambarine
45
The Diamond-D Cattle Company 56,57
Upper Ellerslie
9
Unistel
13
Varsfontein
41
Waterberg Boran Klub
19
Ontwerp & Bemarkingsdienste
Posbus 328 Brandfort 9400
Tel: (051) 821 1783 • Faks: (051) 821 1267
[email protected]
Ontwerp deur: Caria Vermaak & Arleen Wiese
God’s gift to Cattlemen 1 Boran
Messagefrom the
President
Dear Boran Breeders and Fellow Cattlemen
As I write this message for the third Boran Journal, I am horrified at the
extent of the drought that South Africa and other parts of the world are
experiencing. The price of maize and feeds has reached record levels,
thereby putting a huge strain on the profitability of cattle farming.
I am happy to report that fellow Boran breeders I have been in contact
with tell me that the purebred Boran cattle are holding their body condition better than other breeds of cattle under the same circumstances.
As a cattleman I put the above observation down to the adaptability of
the indigenous Boran breed, coupled with the Boran’s better nitrogen recycling mechanisms. I am sure where it is applicable the Boran’s ability
to browse is a contributing factor to their better body condition.
The world’s energy problems are firmly focused on the production of biofuels from maize and oilseeds. I am of the opinion that the cattle of the
future will have to be more pastoral than they are at the moment. The
Boran breed has a great advantage in this respect, as the Boran’s confirmation and its ability to graze low quality roughages are outstanding.
I hope you enjoy reading about our fellow Boran breeders and admiring
the South African bred Boran cattle in the photographs.
A word of appreciation to the Boran breeders and staff that have worked
hard to compile this journal.
Tim Ralfe
Boran 2 God’s gift to Cattlemen
Editor
From the
jacques moll
D
it is met groot vreugde dat ons die derde Boran
Joernaal kan vrystel. Ons vertrou dat elke leser
dit sal geniet.
Ons wil graag die aandag vestig op die feit dat die
joernaal toegewyd is aan die Boran in SA. Ons wil egter
erkenning gee aan ons oorsprong van Boran in Kenia,
Zambië en Zimbabwe. Ons weet die telers in dié lande
sal trots wees om te sien hoe die nageslag van hul puik
diere in SA daar uitsien.
In die joernaal is ons bekendstelling van ‘n moontlike
logo ontwerp deur Mario du Preez. Dit het tyd geword vir
‘n prominente logo wat gebruik kan word op promosie
materiaal. Ons plaas graag die treffende ontwerp vir
kommentaar en voorstelle. ‘n Finale besluit moet op
ons jaarvergadering, 15 Augustus 2007 te Maselspoort,
Bloemfontein geneem word. Ons hoop julle word geïnspireer daardeur en dat ons sommer ‘n klomp voorstelle
sal ontvang.
Die vraag kom onwillekeurig op: waarheen beweeg
ons met die joernaal? My droom is ‘n tydskrif wat die
W
e are very pleased to present the third edition of the Boran journal and trust that you will
enjoy reading it.
We would like to emphasize the fact that this journal is
dedicated to the Boran in SA. We do, however, give
credit to and acknowledge the fact that our Boran originated from Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe. We know
the breeders in these countries will be proud to see how
the high standard of their progeny has progressed in SA.
In this journal we have introduced a possible logo designed by Mario du Preez. The time has come for a
prominent logo that can be used for advertizing. We
would appreciate your comments or suggestions on
this striking design. A final decision must be made at
our annual meeting to be held at Maselspoort in the
Bloemfontein area on the 15th of August 2007. We
hope that you are inspired by the design and that you
will have wonderful ideas to add.
The question arrises: Where are we heading with this
Journal? My dream is for a magazine that will tell the
world about the Boran. At present it is an introductory
wêreld van die Boran kan vertel. Huidig is dit ‘n ras bekendstelling en promosie-artikel, maar ek wil glo dat,
met ‘n redaksie wat bestaan uit telers van alle lande
waar Boran aktief geboer word, kan ons ‘n tydskrif saamstel wat nuusdraend en baie aktueel is vir alle Boran
telers en bees liefhebbers. Ek sou dus graag wil sien
dat elke Boran genootskap ‘n redaksionele lid verkies
wat met die aangestelde redakteur kan skakel op ‘n
jaarlikse grondslag om alle inligting, artikels, boeredae,
veilings, skoue en selfs net goeie foto’s van ons geliefde
raste kan deurgee.
Dit is die een kragtige manier om die wêreld te wys dat
ons die beste ras is, is om oor grense heen saam te
werk aan ‘n Boran wêreld publikasie. Dit is tog belangrik
dat alle Boran telers ‘n gesamentlike mondstuk moet
hê, of hoe?
Baie dankie aan al ons adverteerders. Dit is werklik julle
wat die joernaal moontlik maak. Ek wil tog ‘n bietjie advertensie werk doen vir Wayne Southwood. Bykans 90%
van die foto’s in die joernaal is deur sy vaardighede vermag. As jy jouself wil bemagtig met advertensie materiaal en sommer ‘n klomp spogfoto’s skakel hom op sy
selfoon 082 820 8644. Hy ry baie rond en sal defenitief
een of ander tyd by jou kan indraai. Moet asseblief net
nie dink hy is duur nie, vat bietjie ‘n kamera en gaan
frustreer jouself vir ‘n dag lank om ‘n Boran koei uit haar
trop te kry net vir ‘n kiektjie dan sien jy hoe goedkoop hy
eintlik is. Dit sal dan baie gaaf wees as ons die geleentheid
gebied sou word om die foto’s te kan gebruik in 2008
se joernaal of is dit nou wêreld tydskrif?
My opregte dank aan Charmainé Alberts en span. Julle
maak die saamstel van die joernaal so maklik en dan is
julle nog die beste ook!
Aan al ons lesers: wat van ‘n briewekolom, met sommer
enige ding op jou hart, soos vrae, raad of net kommentaar oor alles en nog wat? Dan maak ons die tydskrif
van ons nog ‘n goeie geselsplek ook. Briewe of e-pos
kan gestuur word aan die Boran Genootskap, Posbus
506 Bloemfontein 9300, e-pos [email protected]
Groete
Ed
and a promotional article. However, the ideal would
be for an editorial representing all the countries where
the Boran is actively farmed so that the magazine will
be a news review and actual media for the Boran farmers and cattlemen. I would appreciate it if every Boran
Association will appoint an editorial member that can
communicate with the chosen editor on a yearly basis as to relevant information regarding all information,
articles, farmers days, sales, shows or even just some
good photos of our beloved breed to be published.
One way to prove to the world that we have the best
breed is to work together across borders to create a
world standard publication. Is it not then very important
for all Boran breeders to have a communal mouthpiece?
A big thank you to all our advertisers for making the
publication of this journal possible.
I would like to make use of this opportunity to do some
advertising for Wayne Southwood. About 90% of the
photos in this journal are due to his talents. If you would
like to empower yourself with professional photos for
advertisement you can phone him on 082 820 8644.
He travels extensivly and will definitely pop in with you at
some time or other. Don’t make the mistake of thinking
that he is expensive. Frustrate yourself for a whole day
by taking a camera and trying to persuade a Boran
cow out of her herd just to photograph her beauty and
you will soon see how cheap Wayne really is.
It would be super if you would then grant us the favour
of using these photos in the 2008 journal (or would that
be the 2008 Boran World Magazine?)
I would like to express my most sincere appreciation to
Charmainé Alberts and her team for making the composition of the journal so easy and then proving to be
the best as well.
To our readers - how about a letter colomn with anything that you have on your mind such as questions,
advice or simply just comments on all and sundry. With
this we can make our journal a cosy chat room and
personal too. Letters or e-mail can be sent to the Boran Society, PO Box 506 Bloemfontein 9300, e-mail:
[email protected]
Kind Regards
Ed
Recipient selection
PREPARATION
evaluation & transfer
A practical guide, by dr. Robert Treadwell, Embrio Plus
1) Selection of animals to be recipients to Boran embryo’s
There are 3 basic criteria to select recipients:
1) They must be able to cycle normally and become
pregnant
2) They must be able to maintain the pregnancy and
have a normal partus
3) They must be able to raise the calf well
Keeping this in mind all the time, one then has to decide between the following options:
Heifers vs cows
Heifers have the advantage that they do not have any
lactational stress, therefore they usually cycle better
than cows. They usually have a very low incidence of
clinical or subclinical genital tract infections, compared
to multiparous cows. Because of the lower metabolic
maintenance requirements, they are relatively cheaper
to feed that adult cows.
When using cows, there are definitely also some advantages, especially if the policy in that specific herd has
been to cull strictly on reproductive performance and
the ability to properly raise the calf. If, in such a herd,
you are presented with a cow that has had between 3
and 6 calves, you know you’re dealing with functionally fertile animals. They will also be better suited when
transferring embryo’s of donors cows or bulls with relatively large calves at birth, although small calves at birth
is a characteristic trait of the Boran and birthweight is
usually not a consideration in Boran embryo programs.
Mature cows usually have more milk than heifers to raise
the calf and any temperamental problems would have
been noted previously in her life. This is quite important,
as a lot of the temperamental problems seen in calves
may be related to behaviour adapted from the dams,
and in embryo calves this is no different.
Animals used successfully before as recipients tend to
repeat this in a next breeding cycle, making them very
valuable. The owners should try and retain their successful recipients.
In the case of beef breed recipients , we usually start
synchronizing them to transfer at 3 months post partum. There will always be exceptions where animals
reconceive earlier, but at a drug fee of about R100
per individual synchronization program and the value
of the embryo, it is usually cheaper to wait. If you wait
too long, the nutritional needs of the suckling calves
becomes too much and the cows go onto a negative
plane of condition.
I prefer using them between 3 to 4.5 months after calving,
alternatively letting them wean first before using them.
With adequate nutritional assistance, calves can be
weaned at 5 months without problems in order to get
their mothers ready for embryo transfers.
In the case of heifers we use the same guidelines as for
normal breeding, that is about 65% of mature weight
at the time of transfer. Breed differences and nutritional
management on the farm determines the age at
which heifers will be ready for transfer.
In my opinion the worst recipients will be first calvers
with calves at foot. These animals are still growing out,
have added lactational stress and are the most difficult
group to get pregnant even by normal means. I would
not recommend using first calvers, except if you’re prepared to wait until the calves are weaned.
Different breeds of recipients
There are many different factors to consider when
choosing a breed of recipient.
Fertility, temperament, adaptability, calving ease and
adequate milk must all be considered.
The most Continental or European breeds have good
fertility. Dual purpose type animals usually raise beautiful calves because of the extra milk. Most dairy breeds
have very good temperament. All of this means nothing if they die of tick borne diseases or suffer because
of extremes in temperatures or parasite burdens.
In most cases you do not really have a choice, because either the recipients will be genetically inferior
animals of the same breed as the embryo or be from
the commercial part of the farming enterprise.
When you are asked to make a recommendation,
one must use recipients that are suited for that specific
farm’s management and for that specific area. Use
hardy animals for extensive, semi desert type conditions and give the heifers enough time to mature properly before using them as recipients.
It is better to have at least 50% Bos Taurus in the recipient instead of using pure Brahman. Recipients with
50% Boran blood work really well when transferring Boran embryos.
More early maturing, European type animals can be
used in mild climates with adequate nutrition or artificial
pastures.
Some breeders use dairy heifer to transfer embryos into.
Once they have calved down, they let one cow rear
2 or 3 calves on her own and sell the other recipients
as fresh in milk dairy cows, with obvious economical
advantages.
Although Jersey heifers are probably some of the most
fertile recipients around, we have experienced resorptions, abortions, failure to go into partus and the birth of
stillborn calves quite regularly when using them as recipients for specifically Boran embryos in the past and I
would not recommend using them. The specific scientific reason for this is not completely clear yet.
Own animals vs. buying in
Using animals that were raised by the breeder himself is
a far better option than buying in animals to be used for
recipients, because you know the real age, nutritional
state, vaccination status, calving history, etc.
If you have to buy in animals, try buying from respected
breeders that you trust and try and buy from total dispersal sales. If you buy a group of open heifers from
an unknown source, they may very well be his most infertile animals that did not conceive after running with
the bull for various reasons. Heifers that were neglected
while growing up as far as nutrition goes are very often
stunted for life and will always be of lower fertility.
Buying open cows without young calves at foot is
buying someone else’s problems. If you plan to buy
in cows, it is then better to plan well in advance, buy
pregnant cows or with small calves at foot and wait for
a few months longer while they calve down and adapt
to your circumstances.
2) Preparation of recipients
“How many recipients will we need?” is a frequently
asked question and a very difficult one to answer. The
number of recipients that are suitable to use out of the
initial group that was prepared depends a lot on the
quality of the recipients, their nutrition and management, climatic conditions during the program etc. A
rough estimate is to prepare twice as many recipients
as the number of embryos you have or expect to get.
It is always a good idea to have extra frozen embryos
available, should you end up with more recips that
have reacted correctly for transfer. Given the current
value and the demand for Boran genetics, it makes
economical sense to prepare more recipients that will
enable the vet to only use the very best ones and give
you a better conception, rather than trying to save
money on the synchronization and ending up using
border line recipients.
We prefer to give recipients two opportunities to get
pregnant from embryo transfers, and if she is then unsuccessful, to rather have her removed from the program. In certain scenarios we will give a recipient a third
chance, but the percentage of them that is ready for
a transfer and fall pregnant on the 3rd round of transfer
is lower.
Animals brought from another area or from a different
nutritional system require at least 3 months adaptation
period on the farm where the transfers will be done.
When receiving a new group of animals onto the farm
or getting a group of animals ready for transfer, liase
with the local vet and get the following in place:
-
Test for TB and Brucellosis at least.
-
Do pregnancy diagnosis on every animal, even if
she has “never been close to a bull”. At the same
time examine the recipient for breeding soundness
and ovarian activity. Cows with calves at foot can
be routinely douched at one month post partum to
make sure she does not carry any subclinical uterine
infection into the embryo program.
-
Vaccinate against relevant diseases, especially diseases directly affecting fertility like BVD. If they are
going to be moved to a Heartwater, Redwater or
Gallsickness area later after receiving embryos,
make sure that the immunization occurs before the
transfer synchronization starts.
Proper identification of the recipients is essential. Eartags
must be clearly visible from a distance. Put eartags into
both ears, as they get lost regularly. Make sure there
is no duplication of recipients with the same number.
A permanent hot iron brand would be ideal, tattooing
and the small metal type eartags is also a good option.
Do this well in advance as not to stress the recipients
too close to the time of the transfers.
Nutrition is obviously extremely important and warrants
a separate discussion on its own. A new breeder should
get a nutritionist to assist him. It is better to start with animals slightly down in condition and get their condition
to improve during the program, than to start with fat
animals that only maintain their condition or even lose
condition. A condition score 2 to 2.5 animal at the start
of the program that gains condition to a 3 to 3.5 at the
time of transfer is ideal.
Correct any micromineral imbalances or deficiencies
prior to the program. We give Vitamin ADE and Multimin as part of our synchronization as well, but at least 3
weeks prior to transfer.
Guard against high levels of NPN in the diet. Sudden
changes in diet close to time of transfer is not advisable and after the transfers the recipients should stay
in exactly the same grazing conditions (same camp if
possible) and on the same nutritional program at least
until 2 months after transfers when the pregnancy diagnosis can be performed.
Cows with small calves at foot can be nightweaned
if possible and the calves receive additional concentrates during the night.
Take care not to get the recipients in an over fat condition at the time of calving, with the resultant dystocias,
etc.
Animals with temperament problems should be removed from the transfer program. If you’re dealing with
recipients managed under very extensive conditions,
organize for them to be taken through the handling facilities where the transfers will take place at least once a
day for a month before the actual transfer takes place
to get them accustomed to the setup and bring their
stress levels down. Work quietly and calm, no dogs/
electrical prodders/whips, etc.
It is the transfer vet’s responsibility to inform the breeder
about the minimum requirements for handling facilities, as this has a direct effect on the temperament
and stress levels of the recipients.
It obviously also affects the quality of your work and the
conceptions you achieve if the vet has to climb over 2
meter high fences 200 times a day, work in 40 degrees
C in the sun with inadequately restrained recipients.
Shade for the thawing process and a gate through
which the vet can get in behind the restrained recipient
is necessary.
There are many different ways of synchronizing the recipients, each with certain advantages to it. We use
mainly progesterone implants (Crestars, Cidrs or CueMate), combined with prostaglandin and PMSG. Where
at all possible, natural heats are the best, but not very
practical. Regimes with only prostaglandin injections
also work well, provided you’re dealing with animals
that are cycling normally already and you have time to
transfer on consecutive days, as your synchronization is
never as close as with using the progesterone devices.
The different programs for different sets of conditions is
also a discussion on its own.
Heat spotting is an extremely important part of the program. This allows the transfer vet to better interprete his
palpation of the ovaries and to match the age of the
embryo to the onset of oestrus, which ensures better
conceptions. If you’re dealing with big group of recipients, divide them up into more manageable groups
of not more that 40 animals. It helps to remove the
animals that have been seen on proper standing heat
to a separate camp as to get subordinate animals to
show heat as well. Get a dedicated person to do heat
spotting for the 3 days, also at night time if possible. The
importance of easily readable eartags is obvious. Use
aids like teaser bulls, heat detection devices as far as
possible, but they must never replace proper observation time spent with the animals. Good recordkeeping
of the time of onset of standing estrus is important.
3) Evaluation and transfer
Planning is essential as to waste the least amount of
time from the collection of the embryos to either freezing them or transferring them. If you suspect that you
may not have enough recipients available for the number of embryos you expect, examine the recipients before starting to flush. In that case you can then finish
your flushing, freeze the better quality embryos immediately and start transferring while the freezing process
is under way.
We give the recipients a sedative at least 10 minutes
before transferring, using between 10 and 25 mg of
Acepromazine maleate, depending on the size of the
recipient, the breed and the “temperament requirements”. If you give too much, they tend to go down in
the neck clamp. It also affects their temperature regulation, so make sure that they have access to shade
and water after injecting them. The use of the sedative
allows you to work with less risk of sudden movement
from the recipient that may cause damage to the uterus while transferring, or damage to the vet doing the
transfer. An added benefit of the ACP is the mucous
secretion it causes from the vulva. This acts as a sort
of lubrication for the transfer pistolet and when dealing
with a subclinical case of endometritis , you may very
often see specs of pus in that mucous secretion when
you insert your hand into the rectum, acting as a timely
warning not to use that cow for a recipient.
When examining the ovaries, we try not to touch the
uterus, because the resultant prostaglandin release
may cause luteal tissue regression. This is why it is necessary
to have the genital tract examined before the program
for infection and possible pregnancies. We always examine both ovaries and grade the corpus luteum according to the side, size and age. It’s important to know
the time of onset of estrus, as the CL may differ in size
between a 6 day and a 8 day old CL.
(Note- when you are AI’ing donors during an embryo
flushing program, NEVER TOUCH THE OVARIES. You interfere with the normal ovulation and fertilization and
may cause the oocytes (eggs) to be lost into the body
of the animal).
Keep records of the vet’s findings, but also mark the
recipient with a livestock marking crayon. It helps to sort
out the recipients after the transfers and may be an aid
if anything goes wrong and the recipients get mixed.
The embryo vet gives an epidural to the recipient as to
not have her straining and moving around too much.
Good facilities obviously important as well in this regard.
The effects of the epidural takes about 4 hours to subside, so do not let the recipients walk long distances
after the transfers or over difficult terrain. They must be
herded slowly.
Keep a record of the recipient detail (breed, colour,
day on heat, grade, side of the CL ) and the info on the
embryo (grade, sire, dam, fresh or frozen).
I prefer not to tamper with the recipients at all before
the pregnancy diagnosis is done. Wait 8 weeks before
examining them, because some embryos develop
slower than normal pregnancies and may be missed,
even by an experienced vet, if the examination is done
too early. Ultrasound is another option, but with the relatively high number of “normal” resorptions between 28
days of pregnancy and 56 days, its use is debatable,
unless the unsuccessful recipients need to be used
again right away.
Sometimes the breeder insists on breeding the recipients that return to heat.
It very often happens that recipients that have received
an embryo show heat again afterwards, even though
she is pregnant. Do not AI the recipients on the first time
she shows heat signs after the transfer. When she shows
heat a second time, she can be inseminated but take
care to only manipulate the AI pistolet to the internal
opening of the cervix and deposit the semen there
without advancing into the body of the uterus at all, for
the small chance that she may still be pregnant. To use
a bull would be the safest.
Any change after transfer is bad. Keep the recipients
in the same camps, same nutritional conditions and
same management as far as possible after the transfers until the pregnancy diagnosis has been performed.
Try not to disturb them at all, and do not “spoil” them
because of her precious possible pregnancy.
Communication with your embryo veterinarian is obviously
vital. Never hesitate to call with any possible problems
or when there is uncertainty over anything about the
program. It is also a good idea to have your breeding
records available on the day of transfers, should there
be questions on a specific recipient.
Boran
By Wayne Southwood
A N D TO M O R ROW
S
chalk van Oudtshoorn is a Boran breeder in the Ermelo district. Schalk is flushing his Boran cows in order to increase
numbers and to supply the demand for Boran. He said that
at this moment in time the Boran is too expensive and suggests that farmers in the “game” should be doing the same.
“Flushing is very expensive”, he said “and if you do it you have to do it
properly”. Schalk is getting up to 84% conception rate with the help of
Dr. Robert Treadwell of Embryo Plus. Precision and attention to detail is
essential in the embryo game. Schalk follows Dr. Robert’s instructions
to the letter. If the recipients need to be injected at 6 am he does so
at precisely 6 am not 5 minutes past. He said that it is very important
to know which recipients come on heat first so that they can be implanted at the right time for better conception. Schalk has meticulous
records of all animals on the farm as averages are very important for
sound business decisions.
Because of the cost (R60) to prepare a recipient they only get three
chances where after being sent to the bull.
There are only 50 stud Boran cows in his flushing program which he divided into two groups so that he can flush every month. Since January
this year over 800 cows have been implanted. In order to achieve their
targets for implanting they have had to plan well in advance to have
sufficient recipients that are open and ready.
Fresh semen works up to 15% better than frozen semen. During the
last flushing he used fresh semen of the bull Ceasar whose owner is
Francois Smit of Derby. Dr. Robert collected the semen in Derby and
sent the semen to Schalk. He also kept a sample of the semen that he
monitored on a daily basis for quality during the A.I. process. A cow is
inseminated three times with fresh semen. The first insemination is with
2 normal straws (fresh) the second with 5ml fresh and the last with 2 normal straws again. Schalk said that it is an expensive operation so one
must make absolutely sure about every angle of the process.
He gets 13% to 19% better results with fresh embryos, therefore they
must have enough recipients ready so as to be able to implant rather
than freeze. Their average is 7 embryos per donor cow, so there must
be at least 14 recipients available per donor because only 50% of
recipients will be ready to receive an embryo. Schalk advises that if the
conditions on the farm are not favourable one should prepare even
more recipients. One of their recent flushings during a
very dry period only 40% of the recipients were ready to
receive embryos.
Schalk said that in this area one needs to farm with a
medium or smaller framed animal. He did his own trials
some time ago where he measured 27 tons of large
framed cows and 27 tons of medium or smaller framed
cows. At the end of the trial the smaller framed cows
produced 11% more meat per hectare than the larger
framed cows. The smaller cows’ calves weaned 50.4%
of the mother’s weight and the large framed animals
weaned fantastic calves but they only weighed 38.5%
of the mother’s weight.
10 years ago he had Sanga cows with which he wanted
to breed heavier calves. He tried a number of African
breeds but could not get the calves heavier until he
came across the Boran. Schalk then went to Tim Ralfe
to have a look at the first embryo bulls from Kenya. The
bulls were 18 months old and he could have bought
them for R14 000 each. Schalk said he made a big
mistake on that day buying only semen of the best bulls
instead of buying the bulls.
Later when the A.I. calves were born he was so impressed with the calves that he was looking for which
were not available anymore. He then got a list of Tim
Ralfe’s clients and phoned them all, looking for a S.P.
bull. He said that they all replied that they were not go-
ing to sell their bulls, but if Schalk finds any he should let
them know because they also want more bulls.
There simply were not any bulls available for a long
time until Jannie Arnoldi of Vryheid had an auction and
Schalk managed to buy 4 bulls which happen to be
the same bulls as the semen he had bought from Tim.
By this time the bulls were nearly R50 000 each and 9
years old. At the same sale he also bought 65 pregnant
F1heifers.
Schalk said that the Boran is here to stay but the success of the breed is going to depend on the Society.
They must not let sub standard animals slip through as
Boran, such animals should be slaughtered .
Schalk will have 140 S.P. heifers and 35 Studbook Propper bulls at the following auctions:
9 June ‘07
16 August ‘07
18 September ‘07
@ Kroonstad
@ Nationals Bloemfontin
@ His own sale
For more information contact Schalk: 082 376 2699
KENIA
11 tot 17 Maart 2007
Marula: hoe groot kan ‘n koorsboom word in die
Skeurvallei? Zippo wys vir ons.
O
ns land op Nairobi lughawe na ‘n rustige
vlug. Van die manne wat vir die eerste
maal daar kom raak bietjie senuweeagtig, want Jomo Kenyatta lughawe is
nie die toonbeeld van nuwe tegnologie
nie. Die koloniale invloed kom sterk deur in die boustyl en teëls op die vloere, nie iets wat jy met Afrika assosieer nie. Dan stap ons uit in die son in, lekker warm,
en Nairobi se reuk begin om in jou in te trek, Afrika se
reuk. Dit stink nie regtig nie, (ag OK dit doen) dit ruik
soos te veel mense in te min spasie, en ou kos. Daar
is baie mense, baie karre, almal is oud en gestamp
Die manne wat die toer meegemaak het:
vlnr staan Hans Nel, Zippo Lamprecht, Rick Hackland,
Adriaan Lamprecht, Johan Henning, William Griffin, Johan
Erasmus, Marius Botha, Johan Smit, Francois Smit, Henk
Pretorius, Eloff en Christelle Muller en Chris Coetzee. Die
manne wat kniel is Duncan MacKay, Dave Green, Wilhelm
Allers en Adriaan Rall. Eddie Boon het die foto geneem.
(minstens 4 keer) en die verkeer laat groot mans na
hulle asem snak. Geen reëls nie, en jy raak summier
verlief op jou bestuurder, want niemand wil in Nairobi
se verkeer bestuur nie.
Enige gevoel van senuweeagtigheid wat mens in Nairobi kry, raak onmiddellik weg op pad na en op die
eerste plaas. Stel jou voor: ‘n plaas waar daar slegs suiwer (SP) Borane loop, nie 100 of selfs 500 nie, maar
6000! Suiwer! Die manne se bloed begin sirkuleer, hulle
kry kleur terug na die rit se gestamp, die paaie en die
verkeer, en die werk begin.
Dis net hier waar jy sien waarvan almal praat, die
beroemde kudde-instink: die diere bly bymekaar. In ‘n
sirkel. Een wagter, met ‘n spies en kierie, 300 koeie met
kalwers. Nie een loop uit die sirkel uit nie, hulle loop selfs
so en eet.
Ons is hier om beeste uit te soek om embrio-spoelings
te doen. Ons soek mooi koeie, en daai bul. Daai beste
een. Dis egter nie maklik nie - nie as gevolg van te min
mooi koeie nie, eerder te veel. Bulle bly ‘n probleem,
ons is wel kieskeurig, maar ons wil nie foute huis toe
vat nie. Die eerste besoek aan die plaas Solio is opwindend, die plek het legendaries geraak omdat hulle
so lank niemand toegelaat het daar nie. Die weiding
is onmoontlik goed, die beeste groter as waaraan ons
gewoond is. Ons kry ‘n bul wat ons toe later aankoop
vir die groep, halleluja! Slaap by Sweetwaters Tented
Camp op Ol-Pejeta en dis baie mooi, vriendelik, professioneel, die kos is baie lekker en daar is Tuskers tot jy
ophou vra. Ai!
Ol-Pejeta: (Ankole horings)-hier kan jy maar horings
hê, dwaal uit die groep uit en die leeus is baas...
Ol-Pejeta is alles wat jy al gehoor het, en meer. Dis
groot, en daar’s bees, o wee.... Hier loop die bees en
wild op dieselfde plaas. Wilde goed soos buffels, kameelperde, sebra, Grant’s en Thomson’s gazelle, en
die goed wat hierdie bokke eintlik mos voor kos is. So,
as ‘n bees in die pad kom, eet hulle hom. Vandaar die
kudde-instink, hulle doen dit nie vir die lekker nie. Hier
word die bees in die nag gekraal in ronde ysterkrale
wat geskuif kan word - dit beteken hulle eet nie in die
nag nie. Watter ander ras sal dit kan doen en steeds vet
van die gras af geslag word, of kalwers grootmaak en
in kondisie bly?
Kisima is ver, so ver, dis nie waar nie. Dis maar eintlik
die pad, nie die afstand nie, maar dit bly die moeite
werd. Harde veld en kleiner, harder bees. Oom Broekies
stel ons nie teleur nie, sy gasvryheid is legendaries.
(On)gelukkig is daar hierdie keer nie kameelmelk tee vir
Oom Dave en Eddie nie. Sossian kamp is ‘n belewenis,
Dis hoe jy die verkeer hanteer kêrels - en ons dag
Adriaan drink net Fanta!
bosluise en siektes, is dit regtig die enigste ras in Kenia
waarmee kommersieel vleis geboer word en hoe taai
moet die goed werklik wees om te oorleef? Word hulle
regtig vet genoeg op harde veld om te kan slag? Is die
stories van Bonsmara en Frieskruise wat vrek, al is hulle
halfkruise, waar? Is die kudde-instink werklik so sterk, en
is daar so baie suiwer bees daar soos wat die ouens
wat daar was sê? So baie vrae wat nie beantwoord kan
word deur ander mense nie; hierdie bees klim onder
jou vel in, beduiwel jou oog vir ander beeste, want hulle
word lelik langs ‘n Boran, en in Kenia voel jy wat jy moet
doen, jou bloed vloei vinniger as jy in die kuddes staan,
dis onvergeetlik - en dis net jou eie skuld as jy nog nie
daar was nie.
Ol-Pejeta : So lyk dié wat die leeus kon oorleef. Die
kalf was nie so gelukkig nie...
en Eddie en Francois vind uit hoe die “locals” bly. Toe
ons ‘n bal gooi vir die hond om te gaan haal (dis laat
skemer) vra Johnny ons om dit net nader te gooi, want
‘n luiperd het die vorige aand om die huis gehoes. Dis
nou die ou wat ‘n mak cheetah het wat langs sy bed
slaap in die nag. Hier slaap die honde binne, hulle is
immers daar om jou vriende te wees en nie waghonde
nie, want dié ouens wat in die nag rondloop om kwaad
te doen, verdwyn....
Enige voornemende Boran-teler moet homself vergewis
van die feite. Is die veld so hard in Kenia, is daar so baie
As ons die laaste toer moet opsom vir voornemende
besoekers: Die dae is lank, ons staan vroeg op, werk
hard in bloedig warm son en kom laat by die blyplek
aan. Dan word die foto’s gesorteer en die nabetragting
begin - was daai een by die tweede kudde, die rooi
een man, was sy toe die mooiste koei, hoe lyk die koei
se rekord, nee wys my weer die eerste een. Laatnag
gesprekke oor teling, beeste, bulle en verskeie Tuskers;
later strompel jy bed toe waar die gesprek weer begin
met jou kamermaat, tot laat in die nag. Ons hoor hiënas om (en in) die kamp, boomdassies skree jou bloed
yskoud in jou are, en jy hoor hoe die nuwe manne die
tente stywer toemaak. Kenia is lekker...
Marula: Eloff dink diep op een van die mooiste plase in Kenia. Kyk die kudde-instink agter hom!
Nasionale
veiling 2006
Uitslae van die Nasionale Boran veiling gehou op 12 Augustus 2006 te Circle C - Excelsior.
Bulle
24 verkoop
Koeie
10 Verkoop
Verse
13 Aangebied
Emrio kalwers
17 Aangebied
Gemiddeld van
R51300.00
Gemiddeld van
R33500.00
Gemiddeld van
R37 770.00
Gemiddeld van
R25 000.00
Hoogste prys.
R370 000.00
Hoogste prys
R 85 000.00
Hoogste prys
R42000.00
Hoogste Prys
R 38 000.00
2006 JAARVERGADERING
Die Jaarvergadering is gehou te Circle C Boran Ranches.
Baie dankie aan almal wat die vergadering bygewoon het.
2006
Dinee
Baie dankie aan Circle C vir die gebruik van hul uitstekende fasiliteite en hul gasvryheid.
Boran Dagboek
|
9 Junie 2007
Circle C Boran Ranches
| 15 Augustus 2007
Boran Algemene Jaarvergadering te Maselspoort
|
16 Augustus 2007
Boran Promosie Veiling te Maselspoort
|
18 September 2007
SWC van R Van Oudtshoorn
|
5 September 2007
SE Hodgson
The decision of a lifetime
By Wayne Southwood 082 820 8644
Eloff Muller made the decision of a lifetime when he
changed to Boran cattle. He is mainly a Merino sheep
and Boran cattle farmer in the Mossel Bay district. He
farms extensively on veld that varies from sour in the
rocky mountain areas to sweet veld nearer to the coast.
It is a hard part of the country to farm in. The rainfall is
between 400 to 650 mm per year, that is not reliable.
Before changing to Boran cattle, he was farming with
a large framed European breed for 40 years. Eight
years ago he did some experimenting with the Nguni
in the harsh mountainous parts of the farm and he was
pleasantly surprised by the results. Producing beef is all
about kilograms or profit per hectare for Eloff. The smaller
framed indigenous breeds turned out to be more hardy
and effective under his farming conditions.
A year ago Eloff sold all the large framed European
catle and replaced them with Boran, which he said
had all the qualities of the other indigenous breeds,
and even more.
Eloff said that the really successful stud farmers are only
the top 3% of breeders, and that is where he aims to
be. He has therefore bought the best possible genetics
so as to be ahead of the bunch. He has bought from
the Keta Boran stud of Mr Terry Mclintock of Vryburg,
65% of Ellof’s cattle originate from Kenya, 22% from
Zambia, and 3% from Zimbabwe and the rest own
breeding. Eloff has spent a lot of money acquiring the
best cattle possible and this is clearly seen when walking
through the herd.
Eloff has two of the top stud bulls in the country; TLM 02
12 is one of the main stud bulls that come out of K6
2459 from the famous Mogwooni herd and out of a
Segera cow in Kenya. Eloff had some cows of this bulls
breeding, and he could see how well he was breeding.
He has good length of body, good sheath and testicles
as well as good pigmentation. This is also a deep and
well muscled bull with great width.
He is one of a kind says Eloff.
TLM 02 11 is the other main stud bull. He is from the Ol
Pejeta line and also out of a Mogwooni cow from Kenya. On the sale where Eloff obtained most of his cattle
the TLM 02 11 embrio calves (of which there was almost
70) stood out by far amongst the others. This was the
main reason why Eloff decided to buy and to use him
as a stud sire in his own herd.
Why Eloff went for Boran
The cows ability to wean up to 69% (Boran average is
above 50%) of the mother’s mass at 205 days. His cows
average around 450kg. The bull calves wean at 55.8%
and the heifer calves wean at 51.6% on 205 days. The
National average for SA beef breeds is 45.2%
They handle the harsh conditions well and get into calf
sooner.
They are well adapted and efficient.
Temperament, herding instinct, tick resistance (his cattle
has up to today never been put through a dip), good
pigmentation and strong eyebanks.
The cows are low on maintenace and this is the direction that farmers are going to nowadays.
The Boran has incredible hybrid vigour when crossed
with any breed. It has the ability to put meat in the right
places and produces an animal that is deeper, wider
and with more spring of rib.
For more details contact Eloff on 044 651 1634 or 082
416 6518.
Origin & Genetic
make-up
OF THE BORAN
Origin of the Boran
Introduction - early domestication of cattle
Early archaeological evidence suggests two centres for
domestication of cattle. The humpless taurine cattle
were domesticated 8,000 years ago in what is now Turkey and about 6,000 years ago the humped zebu cattle
were domesticated in the Indus Valley, Pakistan.
Introduction of European Bos Taurus cattle to
Africa
Rock art and archaeological evidence in the Sahara
show that the earliest African cattle were humpless
Bos Taurus. This led researchers to conclude that domesticated cattle appeared in Africa via the Isthmus
of Suez, perhaps as much as 7800 years ago, when
domesticated sheep and goats arrived from the Near
East. It is considered that the first introduction of cattle
was that of the humpless taurine Hamitic Longhorns
(Bos Taurus) and they arrived in the Nile Delta around
6000 BC, while the second introduction, that of the
taurine Shorthorns (B. Taurus) supposedly occurred
about 2750-2500 BC (Epstein 1971).
Domestication of cattle in Africa
In the 1980s, archaeologists Fred Wendorf of Southern
Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and Romuald
Schild of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw
introduced a controversial theory: The North African
subspecies of wild cattle or aurochs, Bos primigenius,
may have undergone an indigenous African domestication around 10,000 years ago, possibly in the northeast
of the continent. Many thought that their archaeological evidence - poorly preserved bones - was ambiguous, and the idea languished. In the 1990’s, however,
further analysis of bone morphology and a series of
findings in cattle genetics began to make an African
domestication seem more plausible.
The researchers used a statistical technique called
principal component analysis to determine the major
genetic trends within current cattle populations. They
found three major sources, two of which matched the
genetic makeup of the types of cattle known to have
been domesticated outside Africa. The third component featured neither zebu nor the Near East’s Taurine influence. A team of researchers led by Olivier
Hanotte have been searching for the origin and DNA
composition of African cattle breeds. Hanotte’s team
suspects that it represents a unique domestication of
native wild cattle in Africa. Because thousands of years
ago there were no wild cattle in this region, they must
have been domesticated elsewhere. Based on analysis
of the genetic data, Hanotte’s team concludes that the
centre of this domestication was likely in north eastern
Africa; archaeological evidence supports the idea that
wild and later domesticated cattle roamed this region.
Humans migrating south then herded the domesticated
cows through East Africa with them to their current locations.
Introduction of humped cattle in Africa
The earliest evidence for humped cattle on the continent, provided by Egyptian tomb paintings of the XIIth
Dynasty, do not appear until the second millennium
BC, which suggests that the Egyptian civilization may
have played a role in the introduction of zebu into the
continent. Today, most modern breeds have an appreciable zebu ancestry, which attests to a major secondary
introduction.
Hannottes research found that the genetic signature of
the zebu breed was most prominent in cattle in the
Horn of Africa. From this, Hanotte’s team concluded
that zebu were introduced primarily though sea trade
rather than by walking into Africa through Egypt. Cattle
populations across northern Africa, in contrast, contained genetic influence from taurine cattle, suggesting
that these cows’ ancestors did travel by land.
These findings suggest that the major process of B. indicus influence was centered in East Africa rather than
through the land connection between Egypt and the
Near East. This major zebu immigration may have followed local Arabian contacts or it may have been
part of the long-distance Indian Ocean trade that has
left other domestic animal legacies, including chicken
(Gallus gallus) and camel (Camelus dromaderius). African domesticated cereals such as sorghum Sorghum
bicolor and finger millet Eleusine coracana also appeared in India as early as the late 2nd millennium BC.
This theory is supported by the traditional view that
introduction of the humped zebu Bos indicus cattle is
believed to have occurred in two waves: the first one
is thought to have been about 1500 BC (Epstein 1971),
although Marshall (1989) provides evidence suggesting existence of zebu cattle in Africa as early as 20001788 BC; the second wave, associated with the Arab
invasion of Africa, occurred from about 699 AD (Epstein 1971).
Cross-breeding in Africa
Previous studies of mitochondrial DNA variation indicate that all African B. Taurus and African B. indicus
share the same African set of taurine mitochondrial
DNA haplotypes. This suggests that the pattern of zebu
influence on the African continent was a process of introgression rather than replacement of African taurine
cattle with unmixed Asian zebu.
These processes may have taken place over millennia,
perhaps starting with the initial introduction of zebu
to the continent. However, the introgression occurred
after the initial migration of B. Taurus herding into
western Africa, as indicated by archaeological data
showing an earlier presence of taurine cattle in this
region and as supported by the presence today of West
African B. Taurus breeds that lack any zebu ancestry. It
is also thought that a major wave of B. indicus introgression may have started with the Arab settlements
along the East Coast of Africa from about the end of
the 7th century AD. Part of the subsequent inland dispersal of B. indicus probably followed more recent
pastoralist movements such as those of the Maasai in
East Africa and the Faluni throughout the Sahel. Zebu
influxes may have been accelerated by the rinderpest
epidemics in the late 19th century, which affected primarily the B. Taurus populations of East and Southern
Africa rather than B. indicus cattle, which possess an
innate resistance.
Since their arrival in Africa, extensive crossbreeding
has evidently occurred between zebu and taurine cattle populations (Payne 1964). For example, the sanga
breeds of east and southern Africa are classified as
B. taurus x B. indicus crossbreeds on the basis of the
situation or size of hump, the horn size, the cranial
or body conformation. In some areas, B. indicus have
been steadily and nearly completely replacing B. Taurus populations (Payne 1964). Recent molecular studies
on the mitochondrial DNA suggest that the introgression was through zebu male mediated interbreeding,
as no B. indicus mitochondrial DNA haplotypes have
been found so far on the African continent.
Up to now, the substantial zebu background present
in most African cattle has prevented unraveling the
pattern of earlier B. Taurus movements within Africa.
Archaeological evidence suggests the eastern Sahara
as a putative centre for the earliest development of African pastoralism with gradually more recent dates for
the advent of herding as cattle move west across the
once- fertile Sahara, or south following an East African
route.
The pattern and the chronology of subsequent domestic cattle dispersal within the continent are also unclear. The origin and history of the early dispersion of
African pastoralism westward and southward in the
continent remain largely unknown, as does the pattern
of the introgression of B.indicus, which is known to
have influenced the majority of cattle populations in
Africa.
The history of African pastoralism explains the contemporary genetic composition of African cattle. Domesticated within the continent but genetically influenced
by the centres of cattle domestication in the Near East
and the Indus Valley, the modern African cattle breeds
represent a unique genetic resource at a juncture when
there is an urgent need to improve livestock productivity for the benefit of the present and future human
generations.
Summary
To summarize:
Cattle were domesticated in 3 parts of the world:
• Bos Indicus (Zebu cattle)domesticated in the Indus
Valley (Pakistan) 4000BC
• European Bos Taurus domesticated in eastern Europe 6000 BC
• African Bos Taurus domesticated in the eastern SubSaharan area 8000 BC
Cattle were introduced into Africa:
• European Bos Taurus
-
the first introduction was hump less taurine
Hamitic Longhorns (Bos Taurus) and they arrived in the Nile Delta around 6000 BC,
-
the second introduction, that of the taurine
Shorthorns (B. Taurus) supposedly occurred
about 2750- 2500 BC
• Bos Indicus
-
the first introduction of the humped zebu Bos
indicus cattle was early as 2000-1788 BC;
- the second introduction, associated with the
Arab invasion of Africa, occurred from about
699 AD
• African Bos Taurus
-
Domesticated in Africa
GENETIC MAKE-UP OF THE BORAN
Through DNA sampling Hanotte et al have analyzed
the genetic make-up of the Boran and it consists of the
following genetic proportions:
• European Bos Taurus
- 24%
• Bos Indicus
- 64%
• African Bos Taurus
- 12%
“One genetic feature which seems clear is that cattle
of Bos indicus type are naturally more resistant to ECF
than Bos taurus type”. (AD Irvin and M P Cunningham. East Coast Fever, Diseases of Cattle in the Tropics,
Ristic & McIntyre).
“The Orma Boran has been shown to have a degree of
trypanotolerance.” (R Dolan, Nairobi 2001)
“A survey of eleven commercial ranches in Kenya
shows that calf losses are in the order of 3.5 %, while
losses from disease in older cattle are as low as 1% of
the herd.” (quote BCBS)
“As with all Zebus, the Boran has good heat tolerance.
The sweat glands are more numerous and are larger
than those of Bos taurus and the skin surface is increased by the presence of extra folds...” (MacFarlane,
1964) Dark skin pigment protects against sunburn.
Trials in Kenya (D. Robertshaw & V. Finch, Nairobi
1973) showed that B. indicus has a relatively lower
metabolic rate than B. taurus and under heat stress
there is less metabolic heat to be dissipated and the
shiny coat reflects a high proportion of solar radiation.
The Boran developed in eastern Africa and the main
Boran hotspot was the Borana plateau in southern Ethiopia. That was a point where all the different breeds
migrated through to their various destinations in Africa.
The Boran developed into the dominate breed of eastern Africa and especially in Kenya, where the Kenyan
Boran Cattle Breeders Society (BCBS) have bred the
“Improved Boran” since the turn of the century.
“While the Boran breeders have greatly improved the
beef conformation of their animals, they never lost sight
of the important qualities of the indigenous Boran” to
quote the BCBS.
As far as can be determined this is the only breed in
Africa (and therefore the world) to have this specific
combination of genes. It must be properly understood
that the Boran is a breed that had it’s last infusion of
“new” genes in 700 AD. The Boran is therefore not a
synthetic or compound breed that have been crossbred in the last few decades. It has been bred as a pure
breed for 1 300 years. The importance of this to the
commercial breeder is that the Boran will have much
stronger hybrid vigor than modern compound breeds.
Bos indicus portion: Bos indicus cattle have shown
that they have an incredible ability for disease, tick,
heat and drought resistance. The hybrid vigor between
Bos taurus and Bos indicus cattle is far greater than Bos
taurus on B.taurus or B.indicus on B.indicus.
“True resistance to disease is a complicated matter.
For practical purposes, a smooth coat and motile skin
provides the Boran with a useful degree of protection
against tick and buffalo fly infestation.
“Boran recovers from Foot & Mouth Disease faster than
exotics, and suffers less damaging after effects.
A group of Boran heifers in the drought without any supplement feeding.
While European cattle stop eating and seek shade during the heat of the day, the Boran continues to graze.
Under demanding conditions where cattle have to be
penned at night because of stock theft or predators,
this is a plus point for the Boran.”
“Animals with Boran genes have a relatively low maintenance requirement. This was substantiated in a recent study at the US Meat Animal Research Centre in
Nebraska”. (Haile-Mariam, Sprinkle et al. 1998).
“...young Boran animals can make dramatic recoveries
after drought years when pasture conditions improve”
(Coppock, 1994.)
Being adapted to hot dry conditions, the Boran, with its
lower maintenance requirement has a better chance of
surviving droughts than Bos taurus breeds. The Boran
cow will cease lactating in adverse conditions, letting
her live to conceive again when conditions improve.
European Bos taurus: As the European B. taurus are
bigger framed animals and in general more beefy than
B. indicus animals one can see the better beef attributes of the Boran (even though it is a small-medium
framed breed) compared to other B. indicus and African breeds. One can clearly see that the general width
of the Boran, from the chest through to the wide pinbones, originates from the B.taurus genes in the Boran. This not only helps to produce more beef, but
the wide pin-bones have an added advantage for ease
of calving.
African Bos taurus: These genes add another genetic
dimension to the possibilities of crossbreeding the
Boran with other African breeds. The Ndama is the
only pure African B. taurus left in Africa and it has
been proven that the Ndama has genetically the highest resistance to trypanosomas, a parasite causing
trypanosomiases. Thus the fact that the Boran contains
such a portion of African B. taurus genes plus the huge
amount of B. indicus makes it extremely resistant to
the African disease.
LONGEVITY AND OTHER TRAITS:
The fact that nature has selected the Boran makes it a
fantastic cattle breed to farm extensively with and still
retain critical beef attributes.
The way pastoralists and farmers have been breeding
the cattle makes it that it has a range of good and interesting qualities. Since all cattle need to stick together
in a herd and that they are always kept together in a
herd, else lion and hyena will take them out. This is also of
great value in SA as it is difficult for thieves to separate
1 or 2 cows from the rest of the herd and thus makes it
much more difficult for them to steal. They must either
steal the whole herd or nothing. If you need to locate
and count the cattle to check on them, they are always
close together and you won’t find separate groups or
wonderers. This saves on labour and just makes farming generally easier ie. when you bring cattle in to
dip, treat or wean. This attribute of herdability has
even been shown in SA on F1-crosses and is therefore
genetically inbred over the 1300 years and not only
something they were trained in Kenya. For the same
reasons Boran has an excellent temperament, especially if compared to other zebu animals world-wide.
However after saying that one must not forget that the
Boran mother is highly protective to her calf and has
shown to fend of lion and hyena to protect her calf.
There are also no ways these pastoralists would treat
their cattle and only the strongest will survive. The animals were bred by the laws of nature, survival of the
fittest. “Boran cattle have developed adaptive traits
of crucial importance for their survival. Some of these
characters are: - Ability to withstand periodic shortage of water and feed, ability to walk long distances in
search of water and feed and ability to digest low quality feeds.” (Haile-Mariam, et al. “Boran - indigenous
cattle with potential” 1994).
A herd of cows with the herdsman in the back. Further back another
herd of cows.
Certain traits will cause longevity in the Boran. It is
not uncommon to have Boran cows still breeding at
18 years of age and it has been documented that a 23
year old bull had a 64% pregnancy rate with a herd of
60 cows. Only then was he culled as a result of “low”
pregnancy rate in his cows.
The functional efficiency of the sheath of the Boran
seldom results in a prolapse and or infection. Firstly,
the angle of the sheath points forward rather than
downward. Secondly, the preputium (tip of the sheath)
has a strong sphincter that contracts to close the tip
of the sheath. This prevents protrusion of the lamina
interna and sticks and thorns sticking into the preputium. Thirdly, the sheath contains an active preputial
muscle around the sheath that will retract the sheath
up against the body of the bull. The skin fold in front of
the sheath will then act as protection to the opening
of the preputium.
Showing the sheath of a Boran bull being pulled up against the body.
It is also clearly shown how the fold in front of the preputium acts as a
protection.
The Boran has a highly motile skin which is very sensitive to the slightest touch. When a fly, tick or midge irritates or lands on the skin it will shake vigorously and
the insect will less-likely bite into the skin and transmit
a disease. The sub-cutaneous muscle of the Boran is
very well developed and thick relative to other breeds.
The Boran’s skin can shake even at the base of the tail.
When looking at mixed herds of cattle including Boran, it is clear that the tails are much more active deterring flies and other insects, which is also a proof of
the skin sensitivity. Apart from the high concentration
of sweatglands (as previously mentioned) the skin has
a waxy secretion which is unpleasant for an insect to
bite through. The hair coat is extremely short which
provides less footholds for insects attaching and holding
onto clumps of hair to get into position to bite into the
skin of the Boran. Field studies have shown that Boran feeding in the same veld / pastures as other breeds
have a much less tick count. The glossy hair coat helps
reflect UV / sunlight thereby protecting the Boran from
the hot African sun and the likelihood of cancer.
The Boran mother is a wonderful cow. She has lots
of milk to raise a strong calf. The small Boran calf (23
-35kg) is very strong and in Kenya it is not uncommon
for a young calf to have to walk 5-8 km to the boma
where they sleep at night to protect them from being
eaten by lion or hyena. The mother is very protective
of her calf and will not leave her calf and get lost in
the bush. Bottle teats are seldom present in the Boran
breed and which means that calves don’t need any assistance to drink. The Boran cow raises a calf of above
45% of the mother’s weight at weaning and it is the
norm to raise calves of more than 50% of the mother’s
weight at weaning.
Even though the Boran has a short hair coat it has long
eyelashes which helps, together with strong eyebanks,
to protect the eyes from sun, dirt and very importantly the Moraxella bovis eye infection. This has been
frequently proven on farms where cattle are ranched
with Blesbok - the European breeds are susceptible to
eye-infection and close to no-infections in the Boran.
Boran cow with her calf in the severe drought of 2000.
The long eyelashes clearly covers the eye of the Boran.
Boran
God’s gift to cattlemen
Embryo flushing
IN KENYA
Collecting embryos by Embryo Plus from Boran donor cows in Kenya has been
ongoing and very successful. We have great cooperation from the Kenyan Boran
Cattle Breeders Society (BCBS) and their breeders. Very good cows and bulls
have been available for the flushing projects in the last 5 years.
Selection of cattle
Testing and flushing
The process has its logistical problems, which we have
been sorting out over the years. The strategy and planning to follow would first be to select cattle in Kenya.
This can be done in cooperation with individual farmers
in Kenya and the BCBS and have them select cattle for
a South African farmer. They will also be willing to show
their cattle to a farmer and have you select the cattle
for future flushings. The cattle might be pregnant but will
be kept away from the bulls after calving and will be
ready for the next intake into the Ol Pejeta quarantine
centre. An inspector from the BCBS for exports to South
Africa will approve all the cattle that enter the quarantine centre. The South African Boran Breed Society
has approved the Kenyan inspectors for inspection of
Kenyan Boran imported to South Africa.
The cows and bulls will undergo a battery of disease
testing as instructed by the South African Department of
Animal Health. Testing of the animals will be conducted by Embryo Plus and supervised by a representative
from Department of Animal Health from SA and one
from Kenya. Donor cows and bulls will stay in quarantine for at least 42 days before the first flushing while
testing is done on the animals. All positive animals will
be removed from the quarantine. The program takes
32 days for the synchronization and superovulation. Before the program starts each farmer will have to instruct
Embryo Plus on the bulls and matings to do on the donor cows as they are all sorted into groups according to
the bulls used and present in the quarantine.
After the first flushing each farmer will receive the results
of the flushings from his cows and will also be advised
which cows Embryo Plus suggest to flush again or would
be better to be removed from the centre. From the first
to the second flushing we will adapt the program for
each individual cow and hopefully get more embryos
from each cow remaining in the centre.
About two months after the first flushing we will do the
second flushing. At the time of the second flushing more
blood samples will be taken for more disease testing.
Should a cow test positive at this stage the South African farmer will be liable for all the costs incurred but
the Kenyan farmer will wave the genetic costs of those
embryos, as it will not be delivered to the SA farmer.
Importation of embryos
Embryo collections are roughly planned around September, November, January and March. Intakes into
the quarantine centre will then happen around August
and December. To do embryo collections in Kenya between June and August is not worthwhile due to the
cold weather and winds they experience that time of
year.
Cows will have to be 2 months after calving when taken into the quarantine facility. No heifers or first calves
should be selected for embryo collections and preferably cows not older than 14 years of age.
After the disease testing has been done and the embryos have been approved by the Deputy Director of
Animal Health of the North West Province to enter the
country, Embryo Plus will apply for a permit from the SA
Boran Breed Society, Studbook, Department of Stock
Improvement and the Department of Animal Health.
All cattle imported through Embryo Plus and this system
will be imported with a Registration Certificate from the
BCBS and the Kenyan Department of Agriculture and
DNA-typing for parentage verification of both the donor
bull and donor cow.
the Department of Animal Health embryos can then be
transferred by Embryo Plus under certain conditions.
From the time the last flushing has been done and
all approvals have taken place (should there be no
problems with disease testing or registration of the animals) will take about 3-4 months. Then all certification is
shipped to Kenya to accompany the embryos to South
Africa. Shipment takes another 2 weeks and after arrival
at the Johannesburg quarantine centre the consignment is inspected by the quarantine master and takes
another 2 weeks before release to Embryo Plus. All embryos imported are under direct supervision of Embryo
Plus as instructed by the Department of Animal Health.
I would like to re-iterate the fact that we cannot import semen from the rest of Africa into South Africa due
to the diseases from Africa. Semen contains of sperm
and seminal plasma and there are millions of sperm in
a dose of semen. Numerous diseases like Bovine Viral
Diarrhea has been proven to be transmitted through
semen. Diseases like Foot and Mouth disease has
been proven to occur in semen and its transmission
is unknown. On the other hand embryos are cleaned,
washed and disinfected by various methods and cannot transmit any disease if handled properly. We (and I
hope no other farmer) would not like to be the person
to import one of these serious African diseases (like Foot
and Mouth disease, Rinderpest or Contagious Bovine
Pleuro-pneumonia) to South Africa and have all exports
of animals, and animal products like beef, pork, wildlife and chicken banned. This will have serious consequences for our export and our local beef industry.
• The farmer and/or Embryo Plus must notify the local State Veterinarian about the proposed embryo
transfers.
• No animals that have received such an embryo are
to be removed from the property within 6 weeks after the transfer of these imported embryos.
• Should a recipient get sick within the 6 weeks the
local State Veterinarian and Embryo Plus should be
immediately notified for inspection by the State Veterinarian and should he deem necessary do further
testing.
• Embryo Plus will report every 4 months to the National Department of Animal Health on all embryos
transferred.
Birth of embryo calves
This will have to be done for all embryo calves born
in South Africa and is regulations set by the Registrar
of Stock Improvement, the South African Studbook and
complied the SA Boran Breeders Society. After the birth
of the embryo calves you should do the following:
Transfers of embryos in South Africa
A batch of embryos from every consignment will have
to be transferred in quarantine at Embryo Plus quarantine centre in Brits or if special permission been given
by the Director of Animal Health in such a quarantine
centre. Two months after this batch of embryos have
been transferred, the recipients are inspected by a
representative from the Department of Animal Health
(normally of the North West) and approved that there
were no outbreak of disease in these recipients. A letter
of recommendation is then written by the Deputy Director of the North West from the Department of Animal
Health, that the rest of the embryos may be cleared
for transfers at other places around the country. After
we receive such an approval from the Director from
• Identify the calf properly immediately after birth as
not to get confused on which recipient gave birth to
which calf. It is advised to tag the calve with its number, the number of the recipient and the numbers of
the donors (this was received from Embryo Plus after
the transfer)
• Calf should be weighed and marked as soon as
possible according to the prescription by the SA Boran Breed Society.
• Hair samples should be taken from every embryo
calf and sent away for parentage verification. To
take these samples you can grab hold of the tail.
Pull 6-10 hairs from the tip of the tail out by jerking
the hair towards the body of the calf. Make sure
these hair samples contain hair follicles as that contains the cells for DNA-typing. Place all the hair in an
envelope with the details of the calf, recipient and
donor sire and dam on the envelope. These samples can be sent to Embryo Plus and we will assist
you with all the necessary documentation or each
farmer can handle it by himself through the DNAlaboratories, which at the moment are Unistel Medical Laboratories, Attention: Dr. M.P. Marx, Postnet
suite #13, P/Bag X22, Tygervallei, 7536 Telephone
number: 021 938 9213/4 and ARC, Dr L Harris, P/Bag
X2, Irene, 0062 Telephone number: 012 672 9111.
The relevant forms and payments should accompany these samples.
Costs and fees
This acts as a guideline and the way Embryo Plus has
structured a highly successful working relationship between Boran breeders from Kenya and Boran breeders
from SA.
• Fixed costs
• This includes: Flights by staff from SA to do blood collection, semen collection, artificial insemination (AI)
on donor cows and embryo collection. Flights and
costs from state veterinarian from SA and veterinary
authority costs and certification from Kenya. Exports
of materials to be used in Kenya. Importation of embryos to SA, insurance, clearance of embryos, customs and taxes. Boarding and lodging in Kenya by
staff and state veterinarians. Liquid Nitrogen, sterile
water and traveling in Kenya. Rental of quarantine.
• Costs per animal
• Boarding and lodging of cattle in the quarantine.
Variable according to time of year and availability
of feed
• Disease testing for pre and post flushing tests of donor cows and bulls
• Embryo flushing cost per flushing.
• Genetic cost
• Price per embryo charged by Kenyan farmer, negotiated by each individual farmer.
• Price of semen per flushing
All the fixed costs are then shared by all the parties involved in the flushing in the centre for each consignment (consisting of 2 flushing per consignment). I.e. if
you have 5 cows in the centre and there are a total of
50 cows in the centre you will pay 5/50 of the total fixed
costs.
Each buyer will pay genetic costs to the owner of the
cow he is flushing per the agreed price and pricing
structure they have agreed to. Each buyer will pay genetic costs per bull used on each flushing as agreed
to. The disease testing, boarding and lodging costs of
each bull will then be shared amongst all the buyers
that have used such a bull for the flushing and each
buyer will also pay his pro rata share on the number of
flushings/matings he has used the bull.
Embryo flushing in Kenya, the product
• The results of the DNA-parentage verification are
then sent with the following forms to the breed society:
• Birth notification
-
This needs to be completed by the breeder
This can be supplied directly by the breeder to
the breed society
• Schedule O form
The total proposed costs will be worked out at an average of 4 embryos for each individual buyer. 33% of
that cost will be payable when the donors enter the
quarantine facility and 33% will be payable after the
first flushing. After the second flushing the full costs will
be worked out and a reconciliation will be made according to the true costs accrued by each person and
his donor cows (i.e. number of embryo/flush would influence that dramatically). Such a final balance will be
payable after the second flushing and before the embryos leave Kenya.
To contact the BCBS in Kenya please contact:
-
This needs to be completed by the veterinarian that did the embryo transfer.
Mr. Giles Prettejohn at <[email protected]> or
+254 733 299592
-
It contains all the details of the embryo, flushing date and freezing date
Or for further information contact:
Embryo Plus at [email protected] or +27 12 2502359
Proposed Logo
Any feedback contact the Boran office at 051 448 9347

2007 Journal - The Boran Cattle Breeders` Society of South Africa

Transcription

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